The present invention relates to an automobile with a head protection device for a vehicle occupant, having a curtain-type airbag which is inflatable along windows of side doors in the event of a side impact or rollover.
A head protection device having a curtain-type airbag, which is inflatable along the windows of side doors in the event of a side impact or rollover, is known from, for example, WO96/26087. A head protection device is also known, in which for achieving the distribution of gas into an airbag to inflate the airbag, a pipe is arranged in the airbag, and the pipe is formed with holes for allowing the gas to eject.
Seat belt devices for protecting vehicle occupants are well known. In case of a hard-top sedan, i.e. a sedan without B-pillar, in order to install a deflective fitting for a shoulder webbing for a driver or a front passenger, a belt anchor stalk is suspended from a side edge portion of a vehicle ceiling and the deflective fitting is fixed to the belt anchor stalk.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2000-280746 discloses an automobile having bi-parting doors as shown in FIG. 6. That is, a front door 2 and a rear door 3, which open in a bi-parting manner, are disposed at a side of a vehicle body 1. The rear door 3 is hinged at a rear side thereof to the vehicle body 1. The front door 2 and the rear door 3 are adapted so that the rear edge of the front door 2 and the front edge of the rear door 3 are matched with each other.
The roof of the vehicle body 1 comprises left and right roof side members 4, a roof panel 5 and a reinforcing member (roof cross member) 6, which extend between the roof side members 4.
The roof side members 4 are provided with strikers 7 for latching the doors 2, 3. Similarly, floor side members are provided with strikers 8 for latching the doors 2, 3. The vehicle body 1 has A-pillars 10 and C-pillars 11, but does not have B-pillars.
In case where a curtain-type airbag with a gas distributing pipe is installed in a hard-top sedan or an automobile having bi-parting doors as shown in FIG. 6, since a belt anchor stalk for installing a deflective fitting, a roof cross member, and/or striker may be arranged to project from a roof side member, and/or a fixing member, such as bolts for mounting the strikers or the like, may be arranged to project from the roof side member, one or more of these projecting members may interfere with the pipe of the airbag.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a structure for allowing a curtain-type airbag with a pipe to be installed properly to a vehicle having such projecting members.
Further objects and advantage of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.
An automobile of the present invention is equipped with a head protection device along a peripheral side portion of a vehicle ceiling, wherein the head protection device comprises a curtain-type airbag capable of deploying downwardly, a gas source for inflating the airbag, and a pipe arranged inside the airbag for distributing gas from the gas source to a chamber inside the airbag. A projecting member is disposed on the peripheral side portion of the vehicle ceiling, and the pipe has a curved portion bypassing the projecting member.
A head protection device for a vehicle occupant of the present invention comprises a curtain-type airbag capable of deploying downwardly from a peripheral side portion of a ceiling of an automotive vehicle, a gas source for inflating the airbag, and a pipe arranged inside the airbag for distributing gas from the gas source to a chamber inside the airbag. The pipe has a curved portion for bypassing a projecting member disposed on the peripheral side portion of the ceiling of the automobile.
In the automobile and the head protection device as mentioned above, since the pipe has the curved portion, the pipe does not interfere with any projecting member disposed on the peripheral side portion of the ceiling.
Therefore, the present invention allows a curtain-type airbag to be installed to the automobile without B-pillars, such as a hardtop sedan and an automotive vehicle having bi-parting doors. For example, even with a roof reinforcing member, belt anchor stalks for installing deflective fittings for seat belts, strikers for bi-parting doors, and/or fixing members, such as brackets and bolts, for mounting the strikers, the curtain-type airbag with the pipe can be installed. This increases the freedom in designing the automobile.
When the curtain-type airbag is positioned at an inner-cabin-side relative to the belt anchor stalk for mounting the deflective fitting, the curtain-type airbag deploys at inner-cabin-side relative to the deflective fitting for the seat belt.